Health experts outside the government predict it will take 4 million to 30 million coronavirus tests per week to begin reopening the U.S., and keep it open, until a vaccine becomes available — which could take months or even years
Vice President Mike Pence and other members of the White House coronavirus task force argue that the U.S. can double the number of tests it’s performing to 2 million per week by taking full advantage of existing lab capacity. But commercial labs, which perform the vast majority of coronavirus testing, say that doubling won’t be possible without purchasing expensive new equipment, including high-volume testing machines. It also will require training more staff.
Some of that money might go toward adding more high-volume testing platforms in U.S. labs. Right now, the country has relatively few of these systems, including 33 Roche Cobas 8,800 machines — which can test up to 2,880 samples daily — and 180 Abbott M2000 machines, which can do 470 tests daily, according to a presentation Monday by White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx.
There also are 18,000 machines that can analyze Abbott’s 15-minute rapid test — each capable of processing 96 tests a day, for a theoretical daily maximum of 1.7 million. But Abbott can make only 50,000 test cartridges per day, although it is working to expand daily production to 65,000. “The problem with the federal plan is that it is not a federal plan,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a former USAID official who worked on Ebola response during the Obama administration. “It’s a list of things they think the states should do.”
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
\u201cI\u2019m Waging a Civil War Inside My Brain\u201dADHD is a perplexing, frustrating, and disruptive condition still too often questioned and misunderstood. We are smart, people say. We just need to try harder or stop procrastinating. If only it were that easy. Here\u0027s the truth about why we can\u0027t always do what is good for us.
Read more »
Inside The Tiny Italian Biotech Startup Racing To Develop A Coronavirus VaccineTakis Biotech, a small biotech outfit with only 25 employees based outside Rome, is hard at work on several candidates for a COVID-19 vaccine.
Read more »
Inside King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima's elegant home offices – complete with photos of the QueenKing Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands have shared a look inside their home offices at their royal residence, Huis Ten Bosch.
Read more »
Inside FaZe Clan's multi-million-dollar mansion in LA: rent, details - Business InsiderThe story behind gaming giant FaZe Clan's new mansion in LA, which costs $80,000 per month and was once rented by Justin Bieber
Read more »
'It Feels Like a War Zone': Inside the MPTF's Virus BattleWith four dead and two dozen sickened — including nine employees — Hollywood's century-old facility for the elderly fights both COVID-19 and residents' quarantined loneliness in 'the biggest challenge the home has ever seen.'
Read more »
Scientists get first look inside comet from outside our solar system'It is dramatically different from most other comets we've seen before.' Scientists get first look inside comet from outside our solar system
Read more »